Dreaming
by mvdiva
Summary: 3/10/10: Sixth and final chapter up. Fifty years of sleep. Nightmares of a life spent in misery and isolation, looking for a sense of belonging and finding only pain and suffering. Fifty years of dreaming for the Hanyou pinned to the mighty Goshinboku.
1. Default Chapter

I randomly got this idea while pondering a question that keeps arising whenever I watch the series: did Inuyasha dream during the years he was pinned to the tree? Don't expect this one to be too long...maybe three chapters, tops. I just felt like writing a little something as a side note to the Ah! My Goddess story I'm collaborating on with my roommate. Enjoy!

**Dreaming of You**

Kikyo's hate-filled face filled his vision. _Die, Inuyasha.  
_  
She wanted him to die. He had no time for sorrow or regrets. The arrow arched into the air, and he spared a moment to watch its smooth movement. The fragile piece of wood would be easy enough to dodge, but something in him wanted nothing more than to feel the sharp bite of the glowing arrowhead.  
  
At the last second he tried to move, cursing his cowardice, but underestimated the speed of the projectile. As the tip pierced through the outer layer of his haori, every single nerve ending in his body erupted into flame. The fingers clutching the necklace went numb, and he vaguely watched through horrified eyes as the jewel went tumbling out of his reach.  
  
Inuyasha tried to lunge forward, but by then the arrow had carved its way through muscle and bone to his back and embedded itself firmly in the bark of the tree.  
  
As if in a dream, the hanyou watched the glowing sphere fall. It thudded softly on the ground. The pain in his chest pulsed once and he felt the magic tug at his mind, urging him down to sleep. He tried to fight it, forcing accusing golden eyes over the angry villagers, marking each face to memory. Their shouts were muted, as if his ears had been stuffed with grass. In the seconds before his eyes closed, they met the pained figure of the priestess. Dark lifeblood trailed in rivulets down her arm, but the fury in her face was untouched by the great pain in her body.  
  
Darkness descended, allowing time for only one final thought: _How did we come to this?_


	2. Chapter 2

_As you might have noticed, this whole story is a series of dreams during Inuyasha's time pinned to the Goshinboku. Elements may not flow together or make complete sense, but that's the way dreams work. Kagome might show up later, but no promises yet. I'm actually getting into this one now, so there might be as many as four chapters by the time I finish. Anyway, please review. Onto the chapter…_

**Dreaming of You**

Chapter 2

He was lost, adrift in the darkness. Reality had been wiped away and there was nothing but the gentle darkness weaving its way through his mind.

As all sleepers are unaware, the smooth nothingness gave way to the warm sunlight of a perfect summer's day. Wind caressed his cheeks as he ran, relishing the feel of thick grass under his feet. The meadow was awash with vibrant colors. Flowers of all kinds gave off a heady fragrance that made him feel giddy and carefree, and Inuyasha laughed.

His ear twitched, picking up the lilting voice of a woman calling his name. "Mother!" In his delight, the hanyou leapt the short distance between them, and was enveloped in a hug. Despite their height differences, he was able to crouch enough to bury his sensitive nose in the crook of her neck. The warm, sweet smell overwhelmed him with memories of a blissfully unaware childhood, and he nuzzled deeper into the thick black hair.

"Oh, my precious Inuyasha." The woman tilted her head to drop a soft kiss on his cheek. "How I've missed you." Her arms dropped to his shoulders and gave a light squeeze before tugging him away from her neck.

He pulled back far enough to catch her hands in his and grinned, wondering in the back of his mind why the expression felt so foreign. Her long black hair swirled about them as a fragrant gust of wind blew past them, tangling silver strands in with the dark.

Bright laughter like tiny bells escaped her. "We will be together forever now, Inuyasha." She raised a pale hand to stroke his cheek. The coarseness of her skin against his caused him to sharply pull back from their embrace.

The delicate silk of her kimono snagged in his claws as both lost their balance and tumbled heavily to the grass. His mother's face changed, elongating into a dark snout topped by two beady red eyes.

"We'll be together forever, Inuyasha." The creature was heavy. Its body pinned each limb with deadly-looking pinchers as the scorpion demon erupted out of his mother's skin. Pieces of ragged pink material landed on the meadow grass, causing every blade to sizzle and die.

With horror, the hanyou looked up at his captor. The face of his mother remained in place, regarding him with a malicious leer. _This isn't happening._ Inuyasha stopped struggling as the thought hit him. The demon wasn't real. With a growing sense of certainty he managed to snarl wordlessly at the creature.

"Don't you want to be together forever Inuyasha?" The booming masculine voice laughed as the sheer volume of its question renewed his struggling. "Don't you want to be with your dear mother? She wants ever so much to see you, Inuyasha."

In response the hanyou squeezed his eyes shut. The unreality of the demon went to the back of his mind as a warm hand pressed itself insistently against his shoulder. "I'm here, Inuyasha. I've come back to you." Another hand appeared on the opposite arm, warm and tender. "Stop struggling, Inuyasha. We're together now, and you don't have to fight anymore."

He began shaking his head back and forth. The scorpion demon chuckled overhead. "What's the matter, Inuyasha? Open your eyes and look at your mother. She's been waiting a very long time to see you." Every hateful syllable poured over his body, freezing the warmth from inside him. He had to get away before that thing decided that toying with him wasn't enough.

_It's a dream, Inuyasha. Nothing is real. _

The whisper came not from either side, but from inside his head. It wasn't real. How could he have forgotten? Inuyasha went still, fighting against every instinct screaming at him. The pressure on his wrists and ankles lifted. Golden eyes fluttered open, unconvinced the threat was gone.

He sat up quickly. The meadow was blooming again, but the former scents were gone. It was like looking at a moving picture. Wind blew around him, moving the long grasses like waves; he didn't feel anything.

The scorpion demon was gone as if it had never been. Inuyasha got to his feet warily. If this was a dream, it was the most vivid one he had ever had. The question now was how did he wake up? Briefly he tried various methods of pinching himself, and ended up hissing as his dog-like claws drew blood.

With wonder, the hanyou watched the thin red trail make its way from his forearm to the back of his hand. It was mesmerizing, and he forgot about the strange demon and the heartache of his mother. The blood tingled as it dripped off the tip of his claw, and suddenly a vague sense of alarm went off in his head. It wasn't stopping. He raised his arm to lick at the slight wound, wincing when he felt it grow to a large jagged hole.

"Kikyo." He breathed. The name was like a prayer he had unconsciously muttered. Inuyasha turned, sensing a presence.

Wind swirled about her, setting the miko's clothes whipping about her frame; an innocent-looking bow and arrow notched in her unwavering grip. "How I hate you, Inuyasha."

The cool tone betrayed none of the fire in her eyes.

This scene was familiar somehow. He knew he was trapped. There was nowhere to hide in the empty field. Kikyo's arrow would seek him out no matter how fast he ran. It was better this way, to die with some dignity. He calmly turned to face her. The metallic arrowhead glinted in sunlight suddenly gone cold.

He watched, fascinated as the wooden arrow launched without warning. The 'twang' of the bow echoed in perfect silence, interrupted by a slight grunt of pain as the head bored its way through to his heart.

A slight trail of blood made its way down the front of his haori, and the hanyou wiped at it absently before looking up to meek Kikyo's hard brown eyes.

"Die, you filthy worthless hanyou. Burn in Hell." Her quiet words brought tears to his eyes. The vague scent of something unpleasant filled his nostrils, and then the world went dark.


	3. Chapter 3

_Alrighty__, I meant to get this up earlier, but…eh, no good excuse. This chapter is a little bit of memory mixed in with Inuyasha's dreaming – my personal take on how a few things happened in his childhood. Happy reading._

**Dreaming of You**

Chapter 3

The sky cried. Bolts of lightning zigzagged across the heavy night sky, drowning out the mourning wails of the youkai surrounding his father's body.  
Inuyasha hid himself behind the simple robes his mother wore, leaned into a hand as she gave him a comforting scratch behind one small white ear. "We're going to have to leave soon, Inuyasha." The beautiful woman crouched down to face him at eye level. He gave her a questioning look, and her sad face glanced quickly over her shoulder where the still-warm body was covered with a sheet.  
The young boy felt himself lifted into sinewy arms, and nuzzled into the crook of his mother's neck.  
He drowsily allowed himself to be carried, mentally keeping track of the twists and turns of his father's castle. A particularly large blast of lightning startled him awake. The bed under him was soft and smelled of his parents, but Mother was nowhere to be found. Normally the fact would have caused him to search for her, but the young child was exhausted from the long vigil at his father's deathbed. Inuyasha slipped into sleep, unconsciously cuddling near when his mother's slight weight settled next to his on the bed.  
Her meager possessions lay in a small bag alongside a pack of food on the floor. Mother and child remained undisturbed as the rain poured down.

Inuyasha watched his young self asleep in the bed. Something inside of him was clenched tightly, waiting for the next crash of thunder which accompanied the beginning of the rest of his miserable wanderings.  
Sure enough, the heavy door slammed open. His mother was awake in an instant, flying for her son who still slept blissfully at her side. Three angry dog youkai stood in the doorway, framed only from behind from the torches in the corridor.

"Leave. Now." Helplessly Inuyasha watched the younger version of Sesshoumaru step forward. His own younger self stirred restlessly in the bed, blinking sleepily at his older sibling. Wordlessly his mother slipped off the bed, dragging the young hanyou to her chest and bending for her supplies.  
The new lord growled lightly, and the woman's delicate hand froze, hovering just above the strap to her pack. "My lord?"

"Leave it." Inuyasha watched her dark eyes grow wide, then dart helplessly between her son and the sack. "Take the whelp and be glad I've allowed you that, whore." He watched her gather the young boy to her, smoothing his thick hair as he clambered once again into her arms. The insult passed over her head, unacknowledged. A slight tic of annoyance started in Sesshoumaru's cheek as his father's human wife breezed past him without so much as a look. He held his regal position, waiting until she was outside the castle's front gates before slashing the chamber to pieces.

  


Outside the sun was just beginning to creep over the horizon. The rain had ended while they slept, but large puddles covered the ground. Several of his mother's maids stood silently at the gate, their bright kimonos dull against the soggy background.  
His younger self lifted a heavy head to gaze at the women who cooed and stroked his ears. They were saying whispered goodbyes when one of the new lord's guards pulled the other women back inside the gate. The tall youkai gave his mother a feral grin, frowning when she showed no fear. Inuyasha could feel her arms tighten around him, and then he went sailing into a large, cold puddle as the guard shoved his mother to the ground and slammed the heavy gate shut.  
His beautiful, kind mother got up slowly. The front of her favorite kimono – the one given to her by his father – was ruined. Muddy water ran in rivulets down the front into her obi, which was now more brown than blue. Long, straight hair tinged with mud hung down in thick clumps from her perfect hair. She looked at him, expressionless. Young Inuyasha became aware of the cold, disgusting puddle he sat in and the bedraggled appearance of his mother. Although he was still too young to be aware of death, some part of him knew Father was gone. He was out in the cold with Mother, and there was no going back.  
As a child, he had no other means to express the depth of hurt this realization brought, and so he began to cry. He cried for both of them that day; cried as his mother cleaned him up as best she could, cried as the two dirty, freezing people walked for hours in search of a village who would welcome them; cried as his stomach told him he was hungry, as his shivers told him that he would never again sleep in Mother and Father's warm feather bed.

The older Inuyasha felt tears of his own, remembering with clarity the day and a half it took to reach shelter. His mother stumbling as first one and then both of her sandals broke on the rocky path, smiling at him through the days, carrying him when pudgy toddler legs could no longer continue.  
They reached a village which welcomed the human, but not the hanyou. Several of the older human boys teased him, saying Mother was the concubine of a dirty youkai, that he was even worse for being a half-breed. Although he did not understand the words they used against him, they hurt just the same.  
Every night he came home to the tiny hut they shared, crying his childish sorrows into her warm shoulder. Through it all, she never stopped smiling.

Three months later, she was dead.

  


A group of four boys came back from hunting near Inuyasha's Forest. The sleeping hanyou had already become a thing of legend, a ghost story created for misbehaving children by their weary parents, and a means of proving one's bravery for the older children. No one dared touch the half-breed monster for fear he would come alive again. The sealing was only ten years past, but the villagers' memory of the event had softened and blurred with time. Through the disjointed words of the frightened boys, the new miko Kaede learned the monster who had killed her sister had been crying.  
The news disturbed her for a while. Inuyasha was supposed to be dead, rightfully pinned to the tree by her dying sister's arrow. However, his body had never begun to decay. Kaede pondered this troubling information for a while, but then put it aside and never thought of it again.


	4. Chapter 4

_Me again. So, er, I haven't updated this or any story in, oh, roughly a year. I apologize to you all, my good and faithful readers. Thank you for sticking with me, and enjoy the chapter._

**Dreaming of You**

Chapter 4

"Worthless _hanyou_."

"If you don't watch out, he will kill your children, gut your livestock and burn your farms to the ground!"

"Go back to Hell where you came from!"

"You and your kind all deserve to die for what you did to my Taka!"

"Filthy hanyou! Bastard child - you should have never been born! Do us all a favor and die!"

A glob of spit landed on his cheek, and the crowd drew a collective breath. Ten year old Inuyasha lifted his arms, which had been covering his sensitive ears, golden tear-filled eyes scanning the faces of the angry villagers. The man whose spit was oozing down his cheek wiped the remains from his own lips with the back of a worn hand, satisfied smirk firmly set on his face.

"Stop it." This from a young woman cradling a happily gurgling baby in her slender arms. She wore a frown which marred the beauty of her pale face. Long black hair – _just like Mother's – _hung in a simple ponytail down the back of her pink kimono. Her baby whined as his mother's frown intensified, and her expression shifted as her eyes moved from the dirty, injured hanyou child to the perfect baby in her arms. A young man in patched yukata and hakama wrapped an arm around his wife and child – the perfect image of everything young Inuyasha did not have.

The woman – no more than a teenager, really – looked back up at him, this time with a look of pity in her eyes. The angry crowd drawn to the hanyou boy's sobs had dispersed in twos and threes, now only a few of the braver ones remained. Inuyasha felt new tears running down his face, and there was the smell of blood; his own blood from where one of the village boys had thrown a pebble, striking him in the shoulder before running off laughing.

"Wassamatter, demon?" This from a graying farmer missing a bottom tooth. "Can't cha take a little pain? Some suffering? Your kind seems to be pretty good at dishing it out." He caught Inuyasha staring at the hole in his smile and leered. The boy turned away as the older man raised a thin leg and scuffed a cloud of dust at him. Irritating particles went in his nose and throat, scratching at his sensitive sinuses as he tried to choke out a plea for mercy.

The young woman continued to watch him, and the older Inuyasha watched his younger self continue to beg between sobs, dusty snot running out of his nose, only to be rubbed on the sleeve of his already-worn red haori.

Bored and convinced that the young hanyou child would present no more entertainment on this day, the skinny old farmer gave him a good kick in the ribs, laughing to himself as he hobbled back towards the center of town. The older Inuyasha winced in remembrance of that sharp kick, dream fingers playing over the mended ribs of his left side.

Bleeding and heartbroken, the young Inuyasha lay in a heap, completely unaware that the young family still watched him, the young husband by his wife's side only because of her delicate hand on his arm. With a look, she shifted the infant from her arms to her husband's, pulling a wrinkled apple out of her obi and polishing it against the sleeve of a kimono not elegant like the hanyou's dead mother's, but faded and threadbare like her husband's.

Inuyasha felt a hand on his shoulder at the same time he heard the beautiful woman's husband call out her name. "Ayumi, wait - don't touch him!" The woman ignored her spouse, fingers trembling against the hanyou boy's shoulder. "Here," She said, and offered him the apple. Silky black hair trailed over her shoulder, brushing softly against Inuyasha's face as a small breeze caressed them. His eyes narrowed as his looked first at the apple, and then at her.

"Why?" He managed. His throat raw from sobs sounded harsh to his own ears, which flattened back against his head as she took a small bite of the apple and again presented it to him, smiling gently. Several strands of her hair stuck to his face, to the grime and snot and blood that he would later wash off in a sun-warmed stream as he used his hanyou claws to catch three unfortunate fish.

Her expression wavered slightly as tears filled chocolate brown eyes. "Please take it." She whispered finally. His stomach betrayed him finally, gurgling loudly as the wind changed and the scent of the slighty-overripe apple reached his nostrils.

Before she could change her mind, Inuyasha snatched it from her hand, nails accidentally leaving behind four thin scratches on her palm. The young woman jerked back with an involuntary gasp, good hand moving to cover the injured one before moving to suck on the wound as she gazed at him with all-too-familiar fear in her eyes.

Her husband moved up beside her. "Are you hurt?" The baby began to cry in his father's arms as the man shifted the child to examine his wife's hand. "See what you get? He's just a dirty hanyou - doesn't deserve your kindness." He shot at look at Inuyasha. "See what you did? Even those who try to help you get hurt. This is why you are scum. Worse than scum. You are dirt beneath -"

"Tasuko, stop it." His wife's voice was sharp. "It's just a scratch. He didn't mean to hurt me." The man whirled on her, presenting his back to Inuyasha, who slowly crawled to his feet, wincing and holding a clawed hand to his ribs.

"Didn't MEAN to? Regardless, Wife, he did. See what he did!" He pulled her wrist up, the bleeding palm an inch from her eyes. Inuyasha watched as she gasped in pain, the man's grip too tight on her slender wrist.

"Stop. Please, stop." The hanyou boy was slowly limping towards them, his right leg throbbing from where another of the farmers had aimed a kick. Tasuko immediately switched from irate to protective, shoving the baby into his wife's arms and putting both behind as the boy continued towards them, palms up in a defensive gesture. "I didn't mean to! I'm sorry - my claws..." He trailed off, choking back another volley of tears as the man's expression remained cold.

The young man bent down, eyes never leaving the white-haired boy as his hands searched the ground, finally hefting a rock easily the size of his child's head. "Leave, demon." His voice was low, ever so cold. "Get out of our village." It was his turn to advance a step as Inuyasha, eyes on the rock backed up. "No one wants your filth polluting our land." He straightened, chest thrust out proudly. "No human will ever want you. You are an abomination, neither human nor demon, and not wanted by either."

As the words sunk in, Inuyasha felt something in himself shatter as a red haze seemed to settle over his vision. There was no time to pause and mourn over the loss of his last shred of childhood innocence. Now he would concern himself only with survival, maybe there would be time to lick his wounds later. If he ran, he would likely end up with a crushed skull, but if he fought...well, maybe things might end differently.

The reddish glow growing in the boy's eyes intensified as he smelled the corresponding fear emanating from the pores of the man and his wife. He snarled - the laughable immature snarl of a pup playing at a tough exterior, but it was enough. With claws raised, he took a step forward - all injuries forgot, as even the excruciating pain of his bruised ribs fading to a dull throb.

At first it seemed as if the man would call his bluff, but as Inuyasha took another step, the hand holding the rock first lowered, then released the heavy weapon, instead wrapping itself around his wife's waist. She seemed frozen to the spot, brown eyes wide as she held the baby protectively against her chest. "Ayumi, come!" The command demanded obedience, and the young woman who reminded him of his mother allowed herself to be pulled back toward the center of the village, where probably most of the able-bodied villagers waited with reinforcements, their pitchforks and other farming tools eager for the taste of hanyou child blood.

Inuyasha dropped his hands as soon as the young couple had turned their backs, and watched them go. The young woman _- Mother!_ his heart called - looked back at him once, the thick ponytail covering her face like a mask - all but the eyes. Those brown eyes which had looked at him so sorrowfully before were full of fear and pity for the hanyou child who stood, thin shoulders hunched against an invisible foe, watching until she and her husband had disappeared over the hill leading into the center of the village.

He watched them go, slowly feeling the aches of his body remind him that he was unfortunately still very much alive, and very much alone.

The older Inuyasha watched his younger self turn slowly and limp off the way he had come - the only way not blocked off to him. He limped off into the horizon to where a thin line of trees marred the setting sun.

Again, the dream-memory faded. He would dream again, but for now there was only darkness. In fourty-four years, Inuyasha would once again open his eyes, but for now he slept.


	5. Chapter 5

_A/N: Hello again, all! I've been reading back over some of my earlier stuff (more like WAY earlier stuff), and I kept coming back to this piece. It intrigues me, I guess you could say. So, for those who have waited so patiently, my thanks and my apologies. Here is the long-awaited fifth chapter of what happened during the time of Inuyasha's binding as seen from a different perspective._

**Dreaming of You**

Chapter 5

The priestess Kaede was wise beyond her years. Her wisdom was outshone only by her kindness and intelligence, but strangers to her village shied away from her due to the patch that covered her eye. Many whispered among themselves - stopping all conversation as she drew near to either favor her with weak smiles or averted their gaze to the dirt of the village's many paths rather than meet her in the eye. It was cruel, yet she never turned any of them down when they made their way to her for poultices or remedies from injuries earned in the field.

She had never before cursed the gods for the path her life had taken. One arrow had changed the course of the life she had been raised to - that of a farmer's wife. To live long enough to be sold into matrimony in exchange for a cow and a few sacks of rice; to be breeding stock for as many children as her husband could coax from her...no, she did not raise her fist to the heavens every morning before donning the uniform red and white of a priestess.

The arrow that had come from her slain sister to pierce the heart of another - she thanked it. Praised the gods for the flow of events that allowed her to be more than just the sister of the village's holy slain sister.

It was this same arrow that she studied now, good eye squinting until she could pick out the individual threads of red fabric that surrounded the shaft. The feathers of the arrow were matted in the spots that had not already disintegrated with time. Although the head and shaft of the arrow itself were still saturated with miko energy, the end had not survived as well.

If she squinted a bit more, she could almost still imagine fingerprints on the shaft as they had gleamed with her sister's life blood. Almost forty years of rain and snow had surely washed any traces of gore from the gleaming wood; it was not possible that any trace of her sister still remained on the sacred arrow.

Kaede turned her attention to the creature still pinned. It was high summer on the edge of Inuyasha's forest, and patches of sunlight shone through the God Tree's leaves bathing the sleeping hanyou in dancing beams of gold. She had been coming to stand at this very spot at least once a week for over fifty years, and there had been no visible change in him. For the past several years she had been receiving varied reports of the creature crying tears, or frowning slightly if touched or poked by the bravest of the village boys.

By all rights, he should be dead. All that should have remained was a skeleton covered in scraps of fabric. But yet, he still looked like a boy sleeping peacefully; untroubled by the the worries of the world. She chewed her lip slightly, watching as a slight breeze picked up a lock of silver hair and set it dancing. No creature of Man or Youkai had the right to be so untouched by time.

She reached out and touched the tip of the arrow, closing her eyes and instantly centering on the warm, calm focus of energy inside herself that was the essence of her miko ability. Wordlessly she recited the prayer that reinforced her sister's spell, wrapping it in another layer of protection. Finished, she opened her eyes and stepped back. No change. All was as it should be.

She had yet to see act of consciousness cross the hanyou's face on any of her trips out to the forest. Excited tales from village boys of tears and frowns had escalated to the half-demon monster opening his eyes and snarling as he wriggled and tried to grab children in order to shred them with his claws. She had listened to many similar tales over the years with both amusement and a small dose of fear, but as time wore on and her trips to the creature's resting place been predictably uneventful, she found herself wondering if the gods would allow her to find her own rest without ever seeing those glowing golden eyes again.

Shaking her head, she once more glanced at the smooth face. So many trips to reinforce the binding spell, and she had never directly touched him - only the arrow. The rational part of her mind asked why she she wish to make this time any different, but by the time the thought was completed, her palm already rested against the hanyou's left cheek. Her mind had time enough to register surprise at the fact that the skin was warm, and then and an image blossomed in her mind, jolting her with the force of it.

_The same face she had only just glimpsed - awake and alive and _angry._ His lips moved, but no sound came out. His golden eyes blazed with fury, yet he did not see her. She tried to speak - to scream in terror, to shout for help, but no matter how loud screamed, she could not break the silence. Suddenly their roles were reversed, and she was pinned to the tree - bound by an arrow which burned through her chest. Overcome with simultaneous waves of sorrow/anger/hate/loss/loneliness/hopelessness, she wished to weep, but was too numb to move. Couldn't move. Couldn't scream. She could only sleep and dream and pray for death to come for her._

Too many emotions manifesting at once caused her physical pain, and her contact with his face broke as she unconsciously wrapped her arms around her middle in order to keep from shaking apart. The vision cut off and Kaede gasped, sucking in all the air her lungs could hold as she half-sat and half lay on her knees, arms wrapped around her sides and forehead pressed to the fresh summer grass. The heart in her chest throbbed desperately, finally slowing as she forced her body to find its calm center.

She unwrapped her limbs and pushed herself up slowly, fighting to keep her eyes off the hanyou's face until the storm of emotions had calmed. When she was able to raise her head, nothing was different. Nothing had changed. No snarling creature stood waiting to attack and rip her to pieces before turning her beloved village into a smoking ruin. A yellow butterfly fluttered past on the breeze, bringing with it such a degree of sweet normalcy that she was able to huff a shaky laugh. Her ears caught the sounds of children laughing from one of the farms on the outskirts of the village. The hanyou slept on, oblivious to the flow of time, and the the dark chill of winter was no different than the kiss of a summer breeze. Everything remained unchanged. No one was in danger.

Yet as she paused to rub her dirty hands on the grass, she sensed things would not always be so. Some day the hanyou would open his eyes, regardless of how many layers of protective spell held him to eternal sleep. And when he did, may the gods protect them all.


	6. Chapter 6

_A/N: Thus ends another long (and possibly painful, depending on whether you care about continuity and decent structure) story of mine. I appreciate all the reviews and favorites to my humble submission!_

**  
****Dreaming of You****  
****  
**Chapter 6

His preferred type of waking was a slow, peaceful return to consciousness. Unfortunately, his life did not often allow for this approach. More often than not, his senses would alert him to danger, and the hanyou Inuyasha would have to be instantly awake and on the defensive, or risk being attacked and perhaps skewered or sliced in two by whatever malicious creature (human or demon) that decided he was an easy target that particular day. It was the main reason he had taken to sleeping in trees - a habit begun shortly after the death of his beloved mother, and one he would have returned to after the fight with Kikyo, had he not been pinned to the Goshinboku.

For once, the half-demon Inuyasha's enchanted sleep had been filled with a peaceful nothingness. Time was irrelevant behind his closed lids, but his dreams had been silent for weeks since the aging high priestess' last eventful visit, and hours since the time-traveling girl had rubbed his ears and left her sweet scent behind.  
In his mind he was, at last, alone. Unpursued by both races that hated and spurned him, and left in peace. It was a peace that shattered without warning, and unlike the slow approach to wakefulness enjoyed by most creatures, he was at once aware of a deep ache in his chest, and the sudden rush of blood to his limbs.

For the first time in fifty years, the hanyou Inuyasha opened his eyes. The first object to fill his view was the same hateful arrow that had stolen those many years away from him, and it still pulsed with an ugly pink aura when he tried to pull it from his chest.

Kikyo.

Her dream-voice filled his memory. Words of hate and vengeance. He felt the slow, easy smile of a predator curve his lips. She would die. Just as easily as he had accepted her words of love, he would pull from the the priestess her dying breath.  
He smelled her coming before she fell and slid virtually to the roots at his feet. Kikyo. In strange clothes, but he would know her anywhere. As soon as she looked up, he knew something was wrong. It was Kikyo....and yet, it wasn't. Was he still dreaming?  
The girl began berating him, and Inuyasha felt his certainty waver. He had never killed a human before, and only ever fought back to defend himself. Kikyo in her strange clothes was insisting that her name was Kagome, and she wasn't any kind of priestess.  
But he had felt the pulse of power from her - it had been strong enough to wake him from his sleeping death. As much as he wanted to strip the flesh from her bones, some newly awakened part of his mind found itself actually _enjoying _the back and forth with her.

And then Mistress Centipede appeared.

The half-breed Inuyasha's dreaming ended with his introduction to the time-traveling girl Kagome. His dreams were never sweet or innocent, but with Kagome and their eventual other companions, he finally had a reason to dream.


End file.
